I Do
by mockingwords
Summary: Steve is a famous chef married to Natasha, a journalist for the New York Times and they have a six-year-old daughter named Sarah. Steve owns his own restaurant in New York and often spends a lot of time in his kitchen crafting new recipes with Natasha who also happens to love to cook. He gets inspiration from his daughter's quirky taste in funny foods and turns them into delicious


Mondays were hardly a drag for him. Steve waited outside the prestigious kindergarten as parents began to flood through the gates; waiting to pick up their children. It was very much like a private school with top-notch facilities and despite their daughter being only six, Natasha had insisted that no expense be spared for their only child's education and whatever Natasha wanted, he was more than obliged to agree to. It had become some sort of a normal sighting to see him here, despite his reputation as a famous chef. Natasha was at work and between the both of them, he had the most flexible working hours. They both made it a point to ensure either one of them was with Sarah at all times. They had seen the lonely kids of the Upper East Side; how they'd grown up with nannies and chauffeurs instead of parents. They didn't want Sarah to suffer that way; she would grow up knowing that she was loved and that they would always be here for her, no matter how bad things got.

He wasn't busy this afternoon considering he only went back to the restaurant in time for dinner service. The rest of the time, he spent with his only daughter. He heard the bell ring and the yelling of excited kids soon replaced the silence of the quaint, sunny afternoon. Among the small crowd of kids, he easily spotted his little girl who had her mother's gorgeous red hair.

"Daddy!"

"Hi baby," he grinned as he picked her up in his arms, giving her a kiss on the top of her head, "How was school?"

He put her down and led her to the car, a black Range Rover Sport as they held hands. "It was bad because Missy didn't want to let me borrow her black crayon during art."

Steve chuckled, "You don't have a black crayon?"

The notion of his daughter, not having a black crayon was laughable even to him. He was pretty sure he'd recently gotten her an entire collection of Crayola, not two months back for her birthday. "Uncle Tony took it and he never gave it back!" She huffed, crossing her arms as he shut the door. Such a little drama queen. Steve climbed into the driver's seat and revved up the engine, "Seatbelt please, Miss Rogers."

Sarah giggled in response before pulling her seatbelt on. As he put the car into motion, he asked her, "What did Uncle Tony use your crayon for?"

"He said he was going to design an aeroplane!"

It must've been an out of the blue idea if Tony Stark was drawing in crayon. He was about as much of a perfectionist as perfectionists went. That meant a sharpened 2B pencil and ruler on a flat surface. "I'll call him and try to get your crayon back. For now, where to Miss?"

"I hope he didn't break it. I want to go home!"

"I'm sure he took good care of it. Otherwise, he'd just get you another one," he laughed.

* * *

"Okay princess, what do you fancy for lunch?"

He held her hand as they walked towards the house, keeping off the lush, green lawn. They lived in a fairly roomy townhouse and Natasha really had a thing for keeping the grass alive. That meant everyone was meant to keep off the lawn. Although, he'd definitely seen her tiptoe her way across when she was in a rush. He'd recorded it and kept it in the Cloud. For research.

As he unlocked the front door, Sarah ran towards the kitchen. She reappeared moments later in the hallway with a bottle of peanut butter as he was taking off his shoes.

"You want a peanut butter sandwich?"

She shook her head.

"PB and J?"

Nope.

He thought for a moment, maybe he should try her weirder combinations.

"Peanut butter and crisps?"

Still no.

"You wanna tell me what you want?" He laughed. She paused for a moment and came over, jar in hand as she beckoned him to get down to her level. She whispered in his ear and he almost laughed, "Peanut butter and bacon?"

"Yeah!" She giggled, "I want to eat peanut butter and bacon."

"Like in a sandwich?"

She shrugged and he had to think for a moment on how peanut butter and bacon related.

"How about we make a peanut butter and bacon burger?"

"With chips?" She asked, a hopeful glimmer in her eyes. Natasha would've killed him if she found out that he said yes. They ate fast food occasionally but he didn't want Sarah to grow up on a diet like that.

"Sorry princess, no chips. How about some grilled vegetables instead?"

Like every other child, Sarah did not remotely enjoy anything of the sort and she shook her head. He tried a different approach, "How about a smoothie instead?"

 _That_ , she liked. He always made her a fruit and vegetable smoothie anyway. Thankfully, she hadn't caught on to his acts.

"How about we get started?"

* * *

"What do we do before preparing food?"

"Wash hands!"

Steve nodded and sent her off to clean up as he set out all the ingredients they would need. He was frying the bacon when Sarah reappeared. "Daddy! You started without me!" She cried in disbelief. He laughed, handing her a piece of bacon he'd already left out to cool. "Sorry princess, here you go. Forgive me."

Sarah paused for a moment as if weighing her options; having a fit or bacon. He held it out towards her, giving her a meaningful look. He knew she wouldn't be able to resist. "Sarah? You don't want it?" He said, teasing her as he drew back his hand. He was certainly going to eat it if she wasn't. She resisted for five seconds before she finally cried, "No!"

He laughed and let her have it. Seemingly pleased, he was about to let her help him with the patties when he heard the keys in the front door.

"Steve? Sarah?"

"Mummy!"

Sarah ran towards Natasha and practically jumped into her arms.

"Woah! It smells really good in here. What are you two up to?" Natasha asked as Sarah held onto her shirt. "We're making burgers!" Sarah replied excitedly.

"You're home early," Steve said as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her in for a kiss. "We're done with the groundwork for the next spread and I can work from home. So, I decided to see what my two favourites are up to," she grinned, "What's on the menu today?"

"Peanut butter and bacon burgers," Steve chuckled, chopping up some garlic as he spoke.

Natasha wrinkled her nose, "Really? How would that taste?"

"Probably really good considering I'm the one who came up with it," Steve grinned, earning him a playful smack on the arm. "Well, I'll take your word for it. You have a knack for turning Sarah's colourful ideas into amazing recipes. What can I do to help?"

"You can start by making the patties. Ground beef, Worcestershire sauce, dried onions, salt, garlic powder, pepper and cayenne," Steve replied without looking away from his pan, gesturing at the ingredients he had laid out on the kitchen counter.

"Yes, chef."

He could hear the smirk in her voice. Natasha had always said that he was bossy in the kitchen, both at work and at home.

"Mummy! I want to pour everything inside!"

"Okay, my love. Let's get some lunch."

* * *

"You're really sure about this?"

Steve nodded as his team of chefs looked at him from across the stainless steel countertops of _Sate_ , both confused and comical look on their faces. "I'm positive that Houston will like this."

"The food critic?"

Steve had brought up his latest creation, a peanut butter and bacon burger, with the intention of getting everyone behind it. He'd made a few for his chefs to try and when the smiles broke out on their faces, he knew he'd gotten it right, "Gentlemen, we're about to gain our first three-star rating."

* * *

He watched as her eyes lit up with amusement; coffee cup in one hand, today's copy of the New York Times in the other.

"Look at what Kirsten wrote about your latest achievement."

He took the papers she held out and chuckled. "Three Michelin stars at seven," he read out loud, shaking his head at the headline that was printed on the front page. "Looks like you owe your latest achievement to our daughter," Natasha mused, clearly getting a kick out of what her colleague had written for the entirety of New York to see. As expected, the burger became one of the most famous dishes from _Sate_ after flying reviews left everyone in New York dying to get a taste. Steve had given his daughter all the credit, of course.

"Excuse me, Ms Editor, I'd like to file a complaint regarding this headline," Steve said, giving her his best straight face, "This is absurd."

"I didn't write the article," she replied, giving him her most innocent look.

He wasn't taking the bait. "You approved it."

Natasha grinned, "Isn't it brilliant, though?"

He reached across the table and pinched her cheek, laughing, "You're awful."

"I try to please," Natasha grinned. They were sat at her favourite café, a small and cosy place right around the corner where she worked. He always made it a point to have breakfast with her after they sent Sarah to school. She flicked her wrist and read the time on her watch, "I'd better get going."

"I'll walk you over," he said, signalling for the waiter to get the bill. They held hands as they walked, basking in the cold winter air that hit them as soon as they left the building. He found it hard to believe that the dream he had fought for so long had finally come true, and it was all because of the daughter Natasha gave him. "Thank you," he said, pulling her close and giving her a kiss on the top of her head. She laughed as she turned to look at him, "For what you big mush?"

"For giving me a family."

Natasha smiled as she walked ahead of him, "You're welcome, but this family is just about to get bigger."

He paused for a moment before jogging to catch up to her, "Wait, what?"


End file.
